Why So Serious
by a.jaded
Summary: {au, oc x fred,CHANGES AND SURPRISES AHEAD!} Mirabelle isn't exactly known for being a troublemaker, or even being a little rebellious. Mostly, she just tries to stay invisible. Fred Weasley, of course, is Hogwarts most notorious prankster.. And the boy she's had a crush on for a while now. When he notices her back and other weird things happen to her, will the girl loosen up?
1. Chapter 1

I do not own JK Rowling's amazing creation or any of the characters within.. I only own my original character, Mirabelle Thorne (Snape). I'm not doing this to make any sort of money and I'm not claiming that **ANYTHING I may write here other than things that have already happened in the books and movie series are canon correct because it is alternate universe.**. It's been a while since I've read the books, honestly, just hoping I don't fuck something up too badly.

**ABOUT MY ORIGINAL CHARACTER**

**(SO NOBODY GOES POSTAL AT FINDING OUT SHE'S THE CHILD OF SNAPE. BECAUSE SOME PEOPLE ARE WAAAY PICKY. IT'S MY IMAGINATION, LOL. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED HERE SO YEAH.. IF YOU DON'T LIKE OR APPROVE OF THIS STUFF THEN YOU DON'T WANT TO READ THIS.)**

Mirabelle Thorne was the result of a short thing Snape had with my other original character Caroline. Caroline was a girl he met who happened to look a lot like Lily Potter. And they sort of became friends, though Caroline wanted more than his friend ship. This affair/fling, what the fuck you wanna call it, happened after Lily's death when Snape was probably hurting his broke things off ultimately when Caroline realized that she was only a substitute for Lily.

Anywho, Caroline and Snape went their seperate ways and not too long after, Caroline discovered she was pregnant.. It was also around this time she found out that she was also likely to die shortly after giving birth due to an illness she'd fought her whole life. So she picked a couple that she **thought** were good people (Not realizing of course, that they weren't, actually, they just played nice to keep appearances with people they knew), or who could at the very least provide for her little girl. She had Mirabelle and got to keep her for a few weeks before the sickness got progressively worse. When it did, she took Mirabelle to the couple's house, put her on the doorstep in a basket with a bundle of blankets, rang the doorbell and left a note, then she ran away.

She died a month later, but not before she saw Snape one last time.. It sort of came out (because when she saw him again she couldn't keep it from him, she could see that he was still very much heartbroken over the loss of Lily, and she knew he needed someone to love, so she blabbed even though she was afraid that he'd wind up hating her, or thinking her a liar and rejecting the child if he even bothered to look for her) that she'd done what she had, and he did try and find Mirabelle so he could at least TRY to be a father to the girl.

He wasn't ever able to find her, but he's continued looking as discreetly as possible. The Thorne family are non magical and they think that what Mirabelle is is evil. They're cold and unfeeling, often cruel and abusive people..

Mirabelle is a Ravenclaw. She's a few months younger than Harry, because the thing between Snape and Caroline happened shortly after Lily died. She starts off in the story as very introverted, very skeptical of people in general except her one close friend Izzy who is an oc I created just so that she wouldn't be besties with the other canons and annoy people.

She likes Muggle grunge music, reading horror and science fiction novels, writing, magic tricks, candy, the color black, inventing things and solving problems and pizza. She's not fond of large crowds and she's not really one who likes the limelight. She's not really good at making conversation either. She can be pretty blunt when she wants to be, and she seems to have a cold air about her, she's ocasionally snarky.

Her crush (and pairing, if I choose to keep writing this, I will be fixing this huge injustice in Fred's death) will be Fred Weasley.. Because, damn it, he shouldn't have died.

Any questions?


	2. Chapter 2

INTRODUCTION

_I can't remember a time in my life when I didn't have the bizarre nightmares... Or when I actually fit somewhere. My parents, or the people I called parents, at least, were always punishing me and making fun of me because I attended what they called 'a devil school', and when they weren't doing that, my mother was constantly telling me I'd never be as pretty or as popular as her. And my father was constantly telling me that I was a disappointment, an embarassment and a failure, and that if he'd known just how much of an inconvienece I'd become, he'd never have taken me in, that I had evil in me because I can do things they can't and that I'm going to hell no matter what they do to try and save me... I suppose I should mention I was adopted and that apparently, the story goes, I was left on the doorstep of the people who adopted me.. They took me in and when I started to show signs of being 'different', well.. They became my worst tormentors._

_They still are but I mostly ignore it now. I've even taken to spending holidays at the school I go to, Hogwarts, just so I don't have to come here and deal with them. Or I go off alone, travel. Most of the time they give me money to just stay away so they don't have to make up lies or anything when their fancy friends come over for a party or something, that's when of course, they don't want me there just so they have someone to torment, just for kicks. I'm an embarassment to them and I always have been. They fear me and loathe me and since I started showing signs that I was 'different' than them, they've made damn sure I know it._

_Every night before I go to sleep, I make two wishes.. That one day I'll wake up and feel happy, feel like I belong **all the time** and not just at Hogwarts, and that one day? I'll find my real parents.. Because more than anything, I wonder why they abandoned me. What was so horribly wrong with me, even then, that they didn't want to keep me? Do I really have something evil in me that repels everyone? I've gotten to the point that I honestly think so and I really don't care anymore._

_I'd given up on anything good ever happening to me, and I'd stopped caring, really. Their punishments and insults just roll right off me now, and I've gotten so numb that I don't even feel pain when they hurt me anymore. I honestly expected my life to go on this way at least until I was old enough to get away from them.. I never thought that finally, just when I thought it could get no worse, it would all start to get much better._

_I never thought that finding out my answers would not only help me find myself, but help my father heal from an old loss and a hole in his heart that he thought would never be fixed._

_I also never imagined that this year of school would be the most eventful and best one since I started going to Hogwarts.. Because until now, I've only had two or three close friends, I didn't really know many people, didn't want to, honestly. I was too afraid to stand out, I made myself invisible instead. _

_But this year? Everything changed..._

* * *

Mirabelle looked around the train station, eyes darting quickly, careful not to let them linger on anyone for too long, as she bit her lower lip and leaned against a column, tapped a scuffed combat boot against the stone flooring. She was smiling today, a real one, not a faked one for people's benefit. The reason she was smiling was simple, really.. She was going back for another term at Hogwarts. Hogwarts felt more like home to the fifteen year old than her actual home did, and lately, that situation had gone from bad to worse.

She fidgeted a little, toyed with the wristband of a white thermal t shirt that she wore beneath her favorite Nirvana t shirt. Carefully, she made sure that none of the bruises on her wrists and forearms showed and checked the time on her watch. It was almost time to board the train and she felt more peaceful right now than she had for an entire summer. For some reason, her 'parents', if she could call them that, had really been making sure to show her just how unwanted she was now, just how much they wished they'd never taken her in.

The tap to her shoulder had her nearly jumping right out of her skin and when she turned around, she peered over the rim of a pair of large dark tinted sunglasses at her friend Izzy who asked "Again, Miri?"

"I bring it on myself."

"There's no bloody way you could bring on a black eye. Not even at my worst, Miri, do my parents do that to me. And I'm really a bad girl." Izzy said as Mirabelle shrugged and said quietly, "Just trust me, okay, it's not that simple in the Muggle world.. Especially when both of your adoptive parents are one hundred percent non magical and they think because you happen to be, you're possessed or you have evil in you."

"Your parents, Miri, are fucking insane." Izzy said as she slid a piece of chewing gum into her mouth and remarked quietly, "Did you hear?"

"No, what?"

"We're getting Umbridge this year, the fucking cow.. For some reason Dumbledore chose her to fill the slot for DADA. Or something. My mum put up one hell of a bloody fight too when she found out." Izzy said as the two teenage girls walked towards their train's platform, bags in hand, eager to board the train already. Mirabelle bit her lower lip as she watched him intently from where he stood nearby.

Izzy's gaze followed her friend's gaze and she giggled as she gave Mirabelle a teasing grin and asked, "When will you talk to him?"

"It's really better if I don't, okay? Besides, last time I tried, bloody threw up all over us both. In front of everyone.. Then he teased me about it for a whole month. Besides, I'm really not his type." Mirabelle tried, Izzy shaking her head the whole time as she asked, "Or is it because you're bloody scared?"

"I'm not scared.. Just see no actual sense, Isabella, in trying to get the attention of a boy who'd only laugh at me if he knew how I felt. I don't like wasting my time, seems to me that would be a big waste of my time." Mirabelle said as she shifted her worn out book bag from one shoulder to another and trained her eyes on her boots when she happened to see Fred Weasley watching her intently, a curious look on his face as he did so.

Mirabelle scowled and poked her tongue out at him then turned back to face the front of the line, blowing a bubble with her chewing gum as she tapped her feet impatiently against the stone flooring of the platform. "What's Nirvana?" Izzy asked with a raised brow as Mirabelle said with a lazy half smile, "A Muggle band. They're American."

"Ahh. Again with those Muggle bands. What' so wrong with wizard music?"

"Nothing, I just.. I like stuff like this, it soothes me." Mirabelle admitted as the line to board moved forward and she watched it intently, ready to get back to Hogwarts, since Hogwarts was the only place she really felt at home at. Izzy elbowed her and nodded in the general direction of the group of Slytherins standing in the back of the line, looking down their noses at everyone. For a moment, Mirabelle watched her former boyfriend and the worst mistake of her teenage life, a guy named Stephan, flirting with a brunette who was close friends with Astoria Greengrass. "I hate that fuckin idiot." she muttered as Izzy nodded and said "Thank Merlin you two broke up."

"Agreed.. So, Izzy, what's the general plan for this year, huh? I mean if Umbridge is coming.. We should make her feel welcome, yes?"

"Is this Miri my stick in the mud Ravenclaw in every sense of the bloody word best friend trying to actually loosen up?" Izzy asked as Mirabelle shrugged and said quietly, "Might as well, nothing I do is right either way.. Might as well be the bad girl everyone seems to automatically assume I am, right?"

"I'm so proud of you right now, you're going to make me cry." Izzy said with a wicked gleam in her eyes as she fawned loudly, "My baby is growing up so fast!" which made Mirabelle, who was a year younger than her best friend, blush and duck around, avoid the curious and amused looks her friends antics got them while standing in line.

"Gee, thanks, Izzy."

"If you're gonna be a bad girl, Miri, you might as well stop trying to be invisible. Especially with me around.. Because it won't work. Just leave it to me.. This will be the best year we've ever had." Izzy said as Miri countered, "That's what worries me, Izzy.. When you say things like that.. That usually means trouble.. Or that you've got a plan and we're both in deep and serious neverending shit."

"But I'm fun and you love me." Izzy said as Miri nodded and mused aloud, "Sadly, yes.. Just don't get us tossed out on our arses, will ya?" while shuffling forward when the line moved. It stopped abruptly and naturally, she smacked into the back of none other than Fred Weasley. When he turned around, she quickly apologized and dropped her gaze.

Fred stared at the petite dark haired Ravenclaw he sort of had a crush on with a raised brow. She hardly spoke to anyone but the girl standing right next to her, and usually, when he saw her, she was either sitting under a tree on the lawns with her nose stuck in a book, or trying her very best to practically disappear into the floor so she wouldn't be noticed.

He'd heard she had a rough life at home, but it wasn't any of his business. But judging by the long sleeve shirt and the oversized and dark tinted sunglasses, he wondered if the rumors were true. George elbowed him and said patiently, "You're doing it.. Again."

"So I am, brother." Fred mused as he turned around, went back to talking animatedly to his brother and their other friends, already caught in the grips of major scheming where how to handle one Dolores Umbridge was concerned.. By the time they'd boarded the train, he'd mostly forgotten about seeing Mirabelle. But not so much that he didn't find himself watching the corridors of the train in hopes of spotting her.

"Who are you looking for, Gred?"

"Nobody, Forge."

This year, he vowed to himself, he was doing something about his fascination and crush on Mirabelle. Because with the tensions rising as they were lately, he was learning just how short life could be.. And he wanted to at least know, should something happen, he'd at least tried to get to know the girl.


	3. Chapter 3

Severus Snape normally didn't pay much attention to the students. Normally, unless they were in his classroom, he went above and beyond to avoid them as he personally found most of them annoying as all get out. But when he'd finally gotten a lead, somewhat at least, on his daughter, and he'd tracked that lead, thanks to a little help from former enemies turned friends, and it'd lead to one of the students here at Hogwarts, he found himself wondering which of the girls attending the school could actually be his flesh and blood, which one of them was his daughter, the only family the man had left.

Students filed into the Great Hall for the feast and the speech, the sorting ceremonies and he scanned the crowd of faces.. He'd just about given up on his trying to pick the girl out of a crowd when he saw the girl slink in, slide relatively unnoticed into a seat away from the other kids at the Ravenclaw table and take a book out, start to read it as she ate the food in front of her. He noticed that she wore mostly Muggle things underneath her house robes, the shirt she wore stuck out from beneath the arms of the robes, covered her hands almost to the knuckles. There was a blue bandanna tied into her long and curly dark hair and to his surprise, unlike most of the girls here at the school, her face was completely devoid of makeup.

He'd seen the girl around a few times, he'd sort of felt this odd connection to the girl.. Not to mention the girl did resemble Caroline, the woman that had apparently given him a daughter then given her away because she was afraid he wouldn't want a child, and she knew she was most certainly going to die. And tonight, something in him just clicked, sort of.. They say that maternal instincts are strong ones, but currently, Severus Snape was wondering if paternal instincts weren't equally as strong.

The girl looked up when a girl behind her at the Hufflepuff table elbowed her and leaned in closely, whispering something, nodding to Dolores Umbridge who was currently speaking. He rolled his eyes in disdain at Umbridge, she'd gotten the job he'd always wanted, this annoyed the man a great deal. But he watched the girl carefully and as covertly as possible.

Could this quiet Ravenclaw be his child?

He'd need more proof to back up his suspicions, confirm or prove untrue this 'lead' that Lupin got for him, of course.. But he'd always been painfully aware of the girl, to some degree.

Enough so that he knew that the girl didn't have a particularly good home life. Her parents were well off, but there were rumors that they mistreated her a great deal.

"Snape's watching our table, Izzy, for the love of Merlin act your age." Mirabelle said as she looked at her best friend in mild annoyance, a grim look on her face as she chewed her roast. Izzy shrugged and then asked, "What are you reading?"

"Call of Cthulu." Mirabelle said as she turned a page, stopped only long enough to turn her water in the goblet in front of her to rum, and then take a sip, before looking back down at the book again. Izzy blinked and asked her, "Did you just spike your water?"

"Merlin yes.. There's not enough rum in the free Wizards world to make this woman's insufferable drabble any more bearable." Miri mused as she sipped, held out the goblet to her best friend, a hint of an amused smirk when Izzy coughed and asked, "What is that?"

"Rum."

Izzy fanned her mouth because the alcohol was still burning her insides and it was already in her stomach by this point, and after taking a generous sip from her own unspiked goblet, she asked, "So.. Come up with any plans of torment for our darling DADA instructor?"

"Only her death by an army of bats." Mirabelle mused quietly as she shifted around her seat, looking around the Great Hall. Someone somewhere was staring a bloody hole right through her and she wasn't entirely sure she was fond of it, really. She hated to be watched when she was eating. When her gaze briefly met with those of her favorite professor, Severus Snape, she gave a polite yet stiff nod of recognition, got back to eating her food.. The sensation still remained, so she grumbled and looked up, surveyed her fellow students with vague disinterest as she bit the inside of her cheek nervously.

Her gaze met with that of Fred Weasley when she cast a moments glance over at the too noisy Gryffindor table and she did her usual scowling and poking out her tongue bit then turned her attention back to Cthulu, biting her lower lip as she did so. That made twice today she'd looked up and been locked in the curious gaze of notorious prankster Fred Weasley.. Was he planning a prank to humiliate her?

The look in his eyes didn't seem to indicate any mischief intended on his part, still, she worried about it, because she had gotten nervous, thrown up all over him when she'd tried to even say hello to him after a Quidditch House Cup qualifying game the year before. The dark haired Ravenclaw drummed her fingers impatiently on the tabletop as she hummed a Muggle hard rock song, (Sanitarium by Metallica) and found herself wishing Fred would stop looking at her the way he was currently.

It was cruel, in her opinion, to toy with her when she'd had such a long spanning crush on the male.

Fred winced as his twin's elbow dug sharply into his left side and George leaned in, asked cheekily, "What is it about that one girl, Gred?" as Fred shrugged. Since the day he'd noticed her, coincidentally, when she'd been trying to say hello after a Quidditch match he'd done outstandingly well in and when she'd thrown up on him instead of saying hello, there had been this strange pull there to the even stranger petite Ravenclaw.

He'd watched her enough to know she wasn't a people person, she seemed skittish as all hell around more than her only real friend, another Ravenclaw who was notorious for being wild and a bit of a troublemaker with a shaky reputation with the men, Izzy. And occasionally, when Izzy was in one of her mischevious moods, she seemed jumpy around her also.

He knew that the girl spent ungodly amounts of time in Professor Snape's classroom, even when she wasn't in class.. That for whatever reason, she viewed the man as a mentor of sorts and for that reason, she excelled in Potions, her marks being just two below Hermione's which was something to brag about.

He also knew that she seemed to enjoy Muggle hobbies, she preferred Muggle music (and most of it was dark, scary sounding, he'd heard her playing it once, on an old piano in one of the castle's forgotten closets, not to mention she hummed lyrics when she was nervous or upset) to wizard bands, and she loved scaring people, it was probably the only real trickster trait she showed.

She didn't seem to be afraid of much, other than people and feelings.

"I don't know, Forge.. But suppose this year, brother, I explore that?" Fred mused quietly as he watched the girl in deep conversation with her one best friend as the girl sat unknowing that she was being observed of course, at the Ravenclaw table.

"Do before it drives us both mad." George teased gently as he smiled at his twin brother. He'd often wondered if Fred was going to actually find a girl he liked for more than ten minutes, and since that one Quidditch game last year, when the girl had taken apparently all the nerve and moxie she posessed to actually say hello to Fred, Fred had been on and on about her nonstop.

The feast ended, and before he could catch up to the quiet Ravenclaw, she'd disappeared into the masses. "Damn it. How in the hell is she so damned good at that?" Fred wondered aloud as George chuckled and nudged his twin then said "Let's go brother.. We've got a business to run. And it looks like our business might just bloom wildly this year."

"This could be our year, Forge."

"Aye, it could, Gred."


	4. Chapter 4

The sounds of a strange musical instrument drifted through the closed doors of one of the castle's many spare closets. The doorknob was locked, Snape had already tried it once. Apparently, this year, the girl he'd began to wonder if maybe she were his flesh and blood, well, apparently, she'd chosen to inhabit the spare broom closet nearest his Potions classroom as her 'hideout'.

And she was playing some strange Muggle musical instrument, a guitar it had looked like when he watched her from the door of his office as she carried a few things into the room and the door banged shut behind her.. Since then, the music, an assault on his ears really, had started and hadn't stopped. And right now, he was down here to try and keep her from raising the dead with the offending noise.

He raised a brow when the singing started along with the offending instrument being played, the lyrics were strange, almost a little too dark for a child her age maybe? Then again, she wasn't a blinding happy ray of sunshine, he'd come to notice since his suspicions about her being his daughter, since the lead Lupin got for him about the whereabouts of his missing child so he could at least see her once.

Because he'd been watching her a good deal lately, and he noticed that in a lot of ways, if she were his child, he'd most certainly left his mark on the poor girl. She had a dark sense of humor, she wasn't a people person and she wasn't a very friendly girl, either. She was probably too brutal in her honesty, and she'd gotten her mother Caroline's quick temper but his quick and sharp wit. The Sorting Hat had been at least 90 percent correct when it sorted her in her first year of Hogwarts and put her into Ravenclaw.

The door opened as the music finally stopped and he found himself face to face with the girl. "Finally stopping that racket?" he asked quietly as he looked at her and then added, "Assumed you'd stop by."

"That racket, sir, calms me. Because if I acted angry everytime I was made angry.." Mirabelle said as she stopped in mid sentence and then added quietly, "I did.. But that annoying as all fuck cow Umbridge was doing her evaluation, so I chose to leave instead of coming in. Did you get the books I left?" as she held his gaze.. For as long as she could remember, since her first year of Hogwarts, actually, she'd felt this strong connection, this startling bond to the potions master, almost like he were family, or at the very least, a kindred spirit.

"I got them, yes.. What kind of books are they?"

"Muggle horror." Mirabelle shrugged as she asked him quietly, "How did your Ministry Evaluation go, sir?"

"It's Professor Snape, and that, child, is none of your concern." Snape said firmly as he gave her a stern look. As much as he wanted this girl to be his child, as much as he wanted to be her father, as strong as this mysterious connection he felt to her was, he still hadn't fully gotten his head around it, not even after all this time, all these years of knowing and searching, his actually being a parent.

Now knowing that his own daughter could very well be the only one of his students that didn't annoy him..

He still had to act as a teacher, professionally, treat her the same way as he did the other students.. Because what if Lupin's lead was wrong? They'd found no proof it was, but they'd found a stunning lack of proof that it was right also. Those Muggles who'd adopted this girl, he found, didn't want anyone but her and themselves knowing she'd been adopted.. They used that fact to torture her when she was with them on the holidays, he knew this now.

Mirabelle winced then said quietly, "Good point. It's still a shame, the DADA job should've went to you in the first place.. Not that abombination in a pink power suit." as she rolled her eyes when she spoke of Umbridge. The woman had only been a teacher at Hogwarts two weeks, she'd already started banning things.. She'd even went as far as to shun the traditional books for the course, pass out her own Ministry approved books and ban the use of wands and defensive spells in her classroom and on the castle grounds.

And with the mumblings that He Who Shall Not Be Named returning.. This was the time the students needed to learn to arm themselves properly. There was talk that maybe Potter would come up with something, but Mirabelle being the undying skeptic she was was not about to hold her breath and wait on Potter to come up with a solution.. If he did, it'd be great.. But until he did, she'd practice things on her own, in the safety of this forgotten damn broom closet..

And if Umbridge found her?

She could personally give a flying fuck in space less. She just knew that she wasn't going to lie awake nights scared to death of what her future might hold should Slytherin, their so called 'Death Eaters' and that damned evil wizard Voldemort rise up again and try to take things over.

The less people that knew about what she was up to, the better off. So she said nothing to Snape, or to her only actual friend, she just slipped off to the closet, practiced and studied, using her own preferred method to do so, which involved her actually reading and learning, acquainting herself with the Dark Arts so she didn't fear it..

Snape studied her and shrugged. It still made him angry that Umbridge was teaching the course he'd wanted to teach since he'd become a Professor, but he'd learned to file it away and ignore the deep seated feelings of anger he felt when other teachers got the call to teach the course than him. "The Ministry felt they had to have her here, there was really nothing anyone could say or do."

"Could've rioted.. I read once, in a Muggle newspaper, that Muggles riot and do all sorts of crazy things when they're oppressed by their goverment." Mirabelle suggested casually as she shrugged, shuffled a pair of worn dark purple combat boots against the stone flooring of the castle and looked up at him, toying with the hem of her shirt's too long sleeve again.

"That shirt, Ms. Thorne, is not regulation. If I were you, I'd change my clothing before I had to attend Defense with Umbridge." Snape said curtly, a moments hint of concern creeping in before he walked away from the closet the girl had taken and made her hideout and back into his own office.

Mirabelle stared after him, then looked down at the sleeves of her striped shirt and muttered "Fuck that cow." as she shuffled out of the closet, walked down the hallway in search of a few more things she needed to assemble her latest invention.. If it worked, Umbridge was really going to have her hands tied.. Mirabelle had her doubts, she was a fledgling inventor, after all..


	5. Chapter 5

Izzy rolled her eyes at her uptight best friend as Mirabelle dragged her feet and grumbled for what had to be the fiftieth time in an hour about how these things always sucked and how people quite frankly annoyed the living hell out of her. The laughter drifted in their direction from the Black Lake and Izzy said "Come on, seriously.. It's just a few of us unknowns having a late night swim. What's the harm in that?" as Mirabelle began to count off on her fingers every single reason that night swimming in the Black Lake was a very, very bad idea.. As well as why she personally didn't want to be out on the grounds after dark, she'd rather be alone in her dorm room drinking and cozied up with a good book.

There was less potential for her social awkwardness to present itself there. Nobody could laugh at her or taunt her because she was the token 'weirdo' for the most part.

"Damn it, Mirabelle, you promised.. You'd bloody loosen up." Izzy fumed as Mirabelle eyed the lake nearby as if it were filled with thousands of poisonious cotton mouth snakes. "And I am.. I've got a bottle of vodka, do I not? Just don't see why I have to strip down and jump in that lake like a proper nutter." Mirabelle said as she flopped onto the grass, pulled the cork out of her vodka bottle and stared at the lake and then her friend, then her feet.

Feet were a damn good thing to have, if one were to ask her. They carried you swiftly away from awkward situations, they kept you upright when you needed to stand, your toes could serve as extra fingers if you were talented enough like Mirabelle was and could pick things up, write or pinch another person with them.. And in moments like this, when you couldn't think of a damn thing to say and you were sitting there awkwardly, they served as a damn fine thing to look at while you wished you were anywhere but your present location.

"You do, but.. You said you were tired of being invisible girl."

"I did, yes.. But I'd really rather not get naked and swim in a lake that's freezing cold and has a giant squid residing in it if it's all the same to you. Look, I came out here. Can't that be enough for tonight? Please?" Mirabelle tried, giving her friend a begging face as Izzy shook her head and nodded to someone who stood just out of sight behind them.

Hands lifted her up around her waist and the person responsible for picking her up ran with her quickly towards the cold black water of Black Lake as she screamed and tried to fight the person off. She didn't even get a chance to hold her nose (or her breath) when the water of the lake rose to meet her and when she came bobbing to the surface, she glared at the person responsible, Izzy's current boyfriend, an older Slytherin who shrugged and said "It's ruddy time that stick came out of your arse. Izzy put me up to it, give her that dagger like glare."

"Izzy?"

"Yeeess?"

"You're bloody getting it." Mirabelle ground out through gritted teeth as she swam towards Izzy who floated lazily on her back and taunted her, "You've got to catch me first, Mir."

"And I will, Izzy. I will get you for this one. I'm.. It's freezing!"

"So drink some vodka and quit whining, bloody hell." Izzy exclaimed as Mirabelle sighed and finally relented just a little.. Maybe this one night of fun wouldn't kill her.. Right?

From his private quarters, high in the castle, Severus Snape watched the group of troublemaking teens down on the lawns. Normally, he wouldn't and couldn't be bothered to watch them. Normally, he wouldn't really care what they got up to when not in his classroom so long as they weren't in his hair whilst doing it. But normally, his own teenage daughter wasn't right out in the middle of it.

He turned his gaze back to the paper he held in his hand from St. Mungos.. He'd had to have a test done, but the results came back earlier.. The quiet little Ravenclaw he'd felt such an immense bond with all these years.. She was his daughter. He'd finally found the little girl Caroline managed to cost him before she'd died.

Now he just had to figure out what his next move was and exactly what he intended on doing with that knowledge.. And if it were a good and safe idea to tell her he was her father.. Because he was at a pivotal and dangerous place this time around.. He was playing both sides, a double agent. And he knew that nothing was guaranteed for his fate. He could die or be exposed at any moment.

Parts of him didn't want her in danger, but more of him wanted family. He wanted to at least try being a father to this girl who took after him in so many obvious ways. He wanted to be a part of her life and show her that people did actually care.

But then his common sense would prevail for the moment and he'd talk himself out of telling Mirabelle Thorne the truth about her upbringing. He'd convince himself it was better like this, standing at his window, watching her from afar.

Even though he hated it.

For now, until he got a proper handle on things, got his head around this new development in his life, this would have to suffice.


	6. Chapter 6

Snape watched his daughter while she worked on her Potions lesson.. For weeks now, he'd been sitting on the fact that he was her father, that she did actually have family that wanted to be in her life contrary to what she seemed to believe. He'd been allowing her to come into his office as often as she wanted and when she tried to talk which wasn't often, apparently their lack of words and communication skills were a shared genetic trait between them both.. Suffice to say that when she tried to talk, he listened.

Something was bothering her today, she just didn't look like she was feeling well. She looked angry or upset, he hadn't really learned her moods well enough to know which one it was. But when class ended and she didn't shuffle out the door to enjoy her free period in the library or in her dorms or in the forgotten broom closet down the hallway and she remained sitting in her desk, he cleared his throat and pointed out calmly, "Class has been dismissed." which was met with a solemn shrug as she stared intently out the window.

"Is something wrong?"

"Nothing more than usual." came the muffled reply a few moments later as Snape thought back to earlier in the day.. He'd seen her being picked on and it'd bought back many painful memories for him. He'd stood in her shoes so many times when he was a mere student here and not a professor. He hadn't really had the thickest of skins back then, but he'd hidden that well by keeping to himself and not letting anyone see when they'd hurt or upset him or even made him a little angry.

"The others.." Snape started but his voice trailed off, he fell silent. Mirabelle looked up at the professor that she felt this kindred spirit with, the one person she trusted more than anything and said quietly, "Are all stupid. Nothing they say bothers me. I'm just tired of hearing it over and over again is all. I know I'm not like other kids. I know there is something wrong with me."

"There's nothing wrong with you." Snape said gruffly as he added seconds later, "It's them with the problem." in a quieter tone. He wasn't sure how to act knowing she was his daughter. On the one hand, she was a student and nobody knew about their connection to each other but Lupin and select few others, because he'd had to go to them and put some plan into place just in case someone did somehow find out and her life was put in danger at a later date because he was her father, and of course, Dumbledore knew now.

And Dumbledore was on the fence about Snape telling or not telling Mirabelle he was her birth father. It could go wrongly or it could work out smoothly. He sat down at his desk and shuffled through a stack of parchments on that days potion lesson before finally looking up at her again. She still sat there, staring out the window.

She looked as if she wanted to say something but she wasn't sure what she wanted to say or how she wanted to say it even. "Is there something else, Ms. Thorne?" Snape asked quietly as Mirabelle looked at him a few moments and then said quietly, "I like it in here, okay? Nobody bothers me.. None of the others tease me and everyone's too afraid of you to come in here.. It's not a bother if I just sit here.."

"I suppose not." Snape said as he stood and walked over, looked at her a few moments. Days like this one made him want to tell him that he was her father that had he known about her maybe she'd have had a different life, a happier one. But he couldn't ever say he'd have been a good father or a bad one. But he did care about his child.

He did feel some level of emotional attachment even though they'd been kept apart since her mother had seen fit to do as she'd done.

_'Tell her. Take a risk. She needs a parental figure in her life.. Those Muggles and everyone who taunts and teases and hurts her have her thinking that she's got noone, that there truly is something wrong with her. If you tell her, Severus..' _he thought to himself as he walked to the door and shut it. He turned his attention to her and then said simply, "There is something I've been debating on telling you."

Mirabelle raised a brow and looked at him for a few moments then asked quietly, "I annoy you when I come by so much.. Right?"

"Not that at all.. But it does concern you." Snape said as carefully and solemnly as he could. He didn't want to upset her.

Mirabelle toyed with the hem of her long sleeve thermal undershirt, a deep navy blue today, worn beneath a Green Day t shirt that was safely tucked away beneath her traditional Ravenclaw house robes. She bit the inside of her cheek, a very old and sometimes painful nervous habit she had as she waited on her mentor to finish speaking.

He coughed and then said quietly, "I have a daughter.. Her mother took it upon herself to give her over to complete strangers.. I've been looking for her for years now and nothing until just this year.." as he paused and watched Mirabelle's facial expression. She paled a little, looked at him as she asked "Did you find her?"

"I did, yes."

"I've tried looking for my birth parents for years now.. My mum's dead. She's been dead since a month after she gave birth to me. No idea where my father is. Not sure he'd have wanted me around anyway so it doesn't matter I suppose.. Have you met her?" Mirabelle asked as Snape nodded said quietly, " Officially? No.. But she's always around. She's a student here, actually and I had no idea all this time. I suppose I should've known, really.."

Mirabelle looked at him a few moments, intrigued by his opening up this much. Snape was a very private man and hardly anyone really knew anything about him. So the fact that he was apparently telling her a deep and from the looks of it, painful secret.. She felt a little better.. Someone thought enough of her to confide in her.

"Who is she?" Mirabelle finally asked after a few long and very quiet and intense moments.

"You. You are my daughter." Snape finally said as Mirabelle gaped at him a few moments. Little things they had in common began to click into place and she sat there with her mind racing, confused.. Did that mean that he'd have wanted to be in her life if he'd known about her sooner? Or was he just saying that? She bit the edge of her thumb and stared out the window a few moments, nervously fiddling with her t shirt's sleeve hem as she thought about how to react to this. It was a lot to take in for one day, honestly.

She used to wish when she first started at Hogwarts that he'd be her father.. They just seemed to get along better than she got on with most people. She felt safe around the man even though he terrified so many.

Even though he was cold to most, she just sensed that somewhere beneath all the snark and dry wit he did care about people and things.. That maybe, like her, he'd had a hard time in life and didn't know how to show that he cared, or didn't want to because he thought it'd only wind up getting him hurt. Like her.. She only trusted two people.. One was her best friend Izzy, the other was him.

But hearing him say he was her father, then hearing all the times that her adoptive family had thrown it in her face that neither of her parents must have wanted her.. She was confused right now.

She stood and said quietly, "I'm going for a walk." as she practically bolted out of the classroom, out of the castle and onto the lawns. She didn't stop running until she was close to the Quidditch pitch and then she flopped down, put her head on her knees and started to cry in confusion. She'd have been content to just sit there alone and get it all out but she heard a throat clearing above her. When she looked up, Fred Weasley was standing there looking down at her in concern.

"I'm fine." she said quickly as she jammed her hand into her eye and wiped at the tears. He shook his head, sat down beside her.

"You can't let what everyone says get to you. It'll only wind up hurting more than it should.. I saw them earlier.. Gave that one Slytherin git a tail too." Fred mused as he stared out at the lawns. Mirabelle bit her lower lip and said quietly, "It's got nothing to do with the others and the things they say.. I found something out just now, and I'm not really sure how to take it.. And I don't want to talk about it until I know how I'm going to handle it myself. That makes absolutely no sense.." Mirabelle sighed as she said quietly, "The others have done this so long I don't even hear them anymore when they do it."

"Smile.. It's not that bad, right?" Fred asked as he grinned, made a goofy face and looked at her. She gave him an annoyed eye roll and then said "Your eyes will get stuck that way, Weasley."

"At least you haven't thrown up on me yet." Fred joked back as she gave him a dirty look and then muttered "True, I suppose. Thanks.. For coming over here and being a decent person, seeing if I were okay. I'm fine, I just.. I need to think." which he nodded to and said casually, "If you want to talk.." before walking away, worried about her a little. He caught up to his twin brother and George asked him with a curious look in his eyes, "Well?"

"She's okay.. Just upset about something. I talked to her, okay?"

"I noticed, brother. Now you have to keep talking to her. It's probably the only way you're ever going to get to know her. Because she's not the kind to go making conversations with you first. Especially not given the hard time you gave her, brother, about her throwing up on you the last time, by accident."

Fred nodded and watched the girl, smiled to himself a little.. If it could be done, he would do it. He'd somehow manage to befriend her and get to know her better.. And then maybe..

First, though, he had to get close to her and befriend her. He sensed that she hardly had anyone and after hearing all the rumors and things he'd heard, some of them coming from Izzy, the only girl who really knew a thing about her, he felt sickened at what she went through when she had to return home for the holidays.

She needed people who cared about her in her life.. But a lot of people didn't want to put forth the extensive time and energy required to get to know her before they'd even be allowed a little bit closer to her. He was going to do it though, somehow.


	7. Chapter 7

He'd been pacing for the better part of two hours or better by this point, he was wondering if his fears were confirmed, if he'd made a mistake in telling the girl he was her father. She'd said she needed time to think and that was almost three hours ago by now. How much time did she need to think? He peered out the window of his private offices and down onto the lawns, looking for any sign of her anywhere.

He was surprisingly a little more worried about her than he should be, given the facts, given that he still hadn't gotten his head around all this either. It was getting dark out quickly, and the temperature was dropping at a rapid pace. Not unusual, but enough to worry a man who until the start of the term had only dreamt of finding his little girl and being a father to her, becoming a family.

The door creaked open and Mirabelle peered in cautiously. Was he mad at her now because she'd ran off after he'd told her his news earlier? She'd just needed time to process, to think things through. She shifted her skateboard from one side of her body resting it against the other as she spoke quietly, "Sir.."

"In here." Snape said as he went back over how Dumbledore had told him to proceed from here on out. He'd went to speak to the man when she'd bolted out of the classroom earlier after he'd told her that he was her father. Apparently she'd been searching for him as long as he'd been searching for him, come to find out, and now both of their searches were over.

"I didn't.. I didn't want to hurt your feelings or make you angry.. If you're mad at me for running out earlier, I'll go.." Mirabelle said cautiously, flinching, worried that maybe she'd angered the man with her immature reaction to his news earlier enough that he wanted to harm her now. Snape, of course, saw theflinch and motioned her into a desk by a nod of his head.

She sat and waited, the skateboard leaned against the wooden leg of the work desk she was seated behind. Snape walked to the door of his classroom and offices and shut it, locking it behind him. She had to know a few things first, they had much to discuss, decisions had to be made.

The most important being whether she was going to remain with the Muggles who'd adopted her (and treated her so damn poorly in his opinion) or whether he'd be moving her to Spinners End, to his home, where he felt she belonged. He had to know what she wanted before he pursued the matter in a Muggle court (with the help of Black and Lupin much to his surprise, they said it was to make up for all the things they'd done to him in the name of fun during school, and because they knew his situation, they knew that they were a part of his plans should something happen to him and his double agent status was revealed, to keep Mirabelle safe.)

He also had to explain to her his position in this brewing tension and the resulting war that would most likely begin within a year if not sooner.

"I'm not mad. I can't say I blame you." Snape said calmly as he looked at her and then paused a few moments trying to figure out how to discuss what they needed to discuss now that the truth was out. Finally, he continued, " There are some things we need to talk about, obviously.. One being where you choose to live.."

Mirabelle thought it over. The Muggles that raised her were the worst people she could personally imagine, though she'd heard through the grapevine that Potter had it far worse when he went home on holiday and during summers. She finally had the one thing she'd been longing for, a way out of the pain and fear and all the abuse and other shit that she'd been put through all this time..

And something told her Snape was a lonely man though he'd die before admitting it aloud.

"What would you have me to do, sir?" she asked after a few moments as she slipped a handful of muggle candies, Altoids mints, out of her pockets and slid them into her mouth, chewing thoughtfully. Snape raised a brow, pointed at the tin of mints and she explained while chewing, "Candy, sir. Mint." as she held out the tin. He shook his head and then said after a few moments, "I'd really prefer you come to live with me.. That being said, I know that it's ultimately up to you. And I'm not the warmest of people."

Mirabelle snorted in laughter and shrugging said casually, "And I am, sir? You've taught me since I came to Hogwarts, I've come to trust you, probably more than anyone else I know. It's sort of why I come round so much, sir... To me, you are a father figure.. I mean you were.. Now, obviously, I know why I might have felt that way.." her voice trailing off as she tapped her feet against the stone floor of the classroom.

"That thing you've got there.. It's not dangerous, is it?"

"Depends on if you're doing tricks or using it to get from place to place. It's the Muggle equivalent of a broomstick, sir. Sort of like my dirtbike is also." which made Snape raise a brow as she said "It's basically like a bicycle, only much faster, more lightweight. Has a motor." as she popped another hand full of the mints into her mouth, stared at him a few moments, still very much in shock. Snape, the man she'd always thought she'd chosen to be her father if one got lucky enough to pick their parents, was her real father.

It was like one of those science fiction alternate realm books she was always reading.

"You.. You don't do tricks.."

"Not often, sir. Occasionally I do a wheelie on the bike, that's it." which made Snape eye her for a moment, concerned.

They fell silent, not as awkwardly as they usually did on her 'visits' beforehand, but a more thoughtful silence as both took in the changes in their lives currently. Mirabelle spoke up about five or ten minutes later and said quietly, "I would like to come to live with you, sir.. If you want me underfoot. I suppose it makes sense, my mum didn't honestly tell you about me, so you didn't know.. And Dumbledore sort of called me into his office earlier, explained things. Then sent me down here to talk to you."

Snape nodded. Leave it to the old coot to meddle just slightly. When she wasn't looking, the faintest hint of a stiff smile, or what passed for one on the man's normally dour and grim face lighted for a moment and he said calmly, "That's settled then. I've got some acquaintences of mine working on that. Now there are other things we must discuss. These, Mirabelle, are of utmost importance and things that you cannot tell another person.. Not even that friend of yours, the crazy one, whatever her name is.."

"Izzy? I won't, sir." Mirabelle promised as she watched the man she now knew was her real father pacing back and forth, curiousity in her eyes as she wondered what he could possibly have to tell her. Whatever it was, she noticed he seemed to be worried.

"The tensions as of late.. You've noticed them, yes?"

Mirabelle nodded and said quietly, "I suppose so." as she bit her cheek and drummed her fingers, dreading what he might be about to tell her. He stopped pacing and told her quietly, "Things might happen in coming years, Mirabelle.. I'm in a very difficult position in the tensions that are building.. If a war should happen, you need to know that you very well could be in danger."

Mirabelle shrugged and said with a snort of laughter, "We face danger every day we wake, sir." while twisting a ringlet of dark hair around her fingertip, sliding her feet out of a well worn pair of Muggle sneakers, he noticed they were black with what looked to be bright paint marker drawings all over them, her socks were mismatched.

"That may well be true.. But the danger you could face, Mirabelle.. I might have to hide you.. Or go away for a while if things get bad enough. I need you to understand that this war that's potentially about to start could very well tear us apart. If certain things come out about my position in it.."

Mirabelle nodded. She was starting to piece together what he might be trying to tell her and she was afraid for him if what she thought he were trying to tell her were even remotely true. To play one side was bad enough.. But if what she sensed he might be telling her were true.. Playing both sides was like throwing a match into a raging inferno and adding more gasoline.

"I see.." she mused thoughtfully, her young mind already spinning, planning, making plans to keep both herself and this man that she now knew to actually be her flesh and blood safe.. She might seem a cold and strange girl to most but Mirabelle was nothing if not loyal. Snape looked at her and said calmly, "Whatever you're sitting there thinking, it ends at a thought. Understood? It's dangerous enough as is. I don't want to worry about you going off and doing something foolish just because you think it will save both of us. Leave me to those worries."

She nodded obediently, though she intended deep down to do nothing of the sort. Knowing that her gut had been trying to tell her for years that Snape felt like a father figure for a reason to be true now, she was suddenly anxious and very afraid of anything happening before she had the proper chance to have a family, a semi normal life.

It may be selfish, she thought, but she'd do whatever it took to prevent him from being taken from her.

He sensed that even though he'd firmly told her not to worry, not to make future plans to save them both, she was still considering it. He studied her for a moment, amazed at just how easily his reflexes as a parent came. After a few long silent moments he finally said "I've written a letter to your adoptive parents. If you like, you may read it."

He handed her the letter and she read it. When she finished, she looked up and said quietly, "I.. I had no idea you knew what was happening.."

"I didn't.. But I am a professor, I can't help but hear rumors in this castle. If the people I've got helping me with this matter can do something about it, Mirabelle, you will never have to go back there. I wrote that in the hopes that we can come to some sort of arrangements without having to make use of the Muggle court system."

He stopped pacing and sat at his desk then said "Now, we'll discuss what you are to do if you're ever in any sort of danger because of my position in this potential war." as she nodded and waited to hear what he had to say, all the while hoping beyond hope that things in her life were finally going to get just a shade more peaceful, that those horrible people who adopted her would just give her up since they seemed to hate her so very much.


	8. Chapter 8

Sun shining directly into her eyes had her swearing and rolling over in her bed, promptly falling onto the floor. She sat up and yawned, then pulled herself to a standing position and gaped as she realized that breakfast was well underway in the Great Hall. She looked at herself, at the school uniform and house robes she was required to wear to classes. Biting her lower lip she made a snap decision.

She needed food (and coffee) now. She'd deal with putting on her uniform and grab her books (and wand, because despite Umbridge's ban on the damn things, she still carried hers, hidden in her sock on the left side of her body.). Knocking on her door only confirmed her suspicions as Izzy called out through the other side, "Mirabelle?"

"I overslept, fuck fuck fuckity fuck fuck." Mirabelle grumbled as she slid on a cardigan over the tank top and black silk pajama bottoms she slept in at night. She raked her fingers through her hair, shrugged. She wasn't a girl given to caring about her looks particularly, she didn't need an hour to primp and a face full of heavy mask like makeup like her former adoptive mother had.

So what she was fucking ugly?

She'd rather be ugly and smart than beautiful and a vapid airhead any day. She threw the door to her room open moments later and said "Not a fucking word, Iz." as she slid her infamous 'hangover shades' down low over her eyes -she'd had a few sips, okay, strike that, an entire damn bottle of the Muggle vodka she smuggled to school with her in her trunks last night while thinking about the future and her life as it stood currently. She had her answers now. She knew who her father was now. And he wanted her to live with him and as a result she had quite the hangover this morning.-

"Did you fall into the bloody bottle of vodka, Mir?" Izzy asked as Mirabelle gave her the finger and the two girls started to jog as quickly as possible down the stairs to the Great Hall. They had exactly seven and a half minutes to scarf down food, get coffee into Mirabelle to sober her up effectively enough that she could go to class and focus, and Mirabelle was for once in a rare better mood.

She had her hand on the door handle to the Great Hall when the door opened from the other side and she found herself chest to chest with Fred Weasley and Lee Jordan, both of whom looked at her with raised brows and mild amusement. Fred snickered a moment and asked "Breakfast in your pajamas, Mirabelle?" as he noted the sunglasses over her eyes.

Judging by the way she winced every time he spoke, he'd be willing to bet all the gold in Gringott's that she'd stayed up all night drinking again, probably playing that Muggle card game he heard from a friend that she played with Izzy and a group of other kids. "Rough night?" he asked as she looked at him and shrugged then managed to stammer, "Not so much.. Just overslept and woke with a migraine is all. Hence the reason I'm still in pajamas and wearing sunglasses, obviously, Weasley. What's your excuse?" which made him chuckle.

That Ravenclaw tact was apparently working early today. But he noticed a certain teasing look in her smile and Izzy, her friend apparently noticed it too.

"You should drink all night more bloody often, Mir." Izzy stated as Fred and Lee walked away, talking Quidditch amongst themselves and she and Izzy slid into the only two remaining chairs at the Ravenclaw table. Mirabelle busied herself scooping a generous portion of food onto her plate and then practically slamming down the coffee as she eyed a forgotten issue of the Daily Prophet with disdain then turned that scornful gaze onto Dolores Umbridge who sat at a table alone, watching the students like a hawk.

She held the woman's gaze for a moment and looked down, rolling her eyes.

Hearing her name whispered nearby, she perked her ears and listened.. And when she heard Lavendar Brown informing some even stupider Gryffindor girl whose name she didn't particularly care to know that Snape was apparently sleeping with underage girls, Mirabelle muttered a quick spell under her breath while wiggling her wand beneath the table.

She smirked when Lavendar shrieked in pain after biting her tongue. Izzy looked at Mirabelle and she shrugged, pretending innocence. As they walked out of the Great Hall, she managed to crash right into another Ravenclaw named Lorraine who quickly got her off to one side and out of earshot of the other adults and people in the general population of the room.

"Is it true?"

"What?"

"About you and Snape?" Lorraine asked her as Mirabelle rolled her eyes and said calmly, "What exactly are you idiots talking about?" as Izzy spoke up and asked, "About the two of you.. You know.."

"Izzy! That's so rude!" Lorraine said as Izzy shrugged and said "Well? I've been wondering myself for years now."

She groaned as she thought back to the late hour she'd spent in her father's offices the night before.. They'd been discussing her future, their plans, what she had to do if things suddenly got bad. It never occurred to her that someone just might see her leaving his office, slipping back into her own dorm room.

"Leave us, Lorraine."

Lorraine pouted and glared at Mirabelle for a moment as Mirabelle pointed her finger down the hallway with a disdainful look on her face. As soon as Lorraine was gone, Mirabelle dragged her friend behind a tall potted plant and whispered quietly, "Snape's my..."

"You are! Mirabelle, bloody hell.. I didn't know you had it in you girl!" Izzy shouted as Mirabelle's hand quickly clamped over her best friend's too loud mouth and she said with an impatient roll of the eyes, "Snape is my birth father, moron. I'm not sleeping with him. If I were going to do that.."

"It'd be Fred." Izzy finished, knowing her best friend all too well. But what neither of them realized was that a certain cocky Gryffindor prankster happened to be standing right outside the potted plant, right in earshot. And currently? Fred Weasley was torn between shock (at Snape actually having found a woman who'd willingly procreate with him) and an almost goofy sort of happiness(Because Mirabelle just admitted that if she were going to procreate with anyone, it'd be him)

George dragged him down the hall and then said quietly, "What we just heard, brother.. Probably for the best we do not tell anyone at least part of it.." which made Fred nod quietly in agreement. "Let's get to class."

Mirabelle finished pouring it all out to Izzy and the two stepped from behind the plant's security and dashed up to their dorm rooms as Izzy asked her quietly, "And you haven't told anyone yet?"

"Just not sure how to, exactly.. I mean I'm still in shock about it myself to be quite honest." Mirabelle admitted as she got ready to go to class. Today felt like it might be a good day..


	9. Chapter 8 II

By late afternoon, however, her initial feeling that today would be a good day had been turned on it's ear. She kept hearing whispers everywhere she went. And people looked at her even more strangely than they had previously. She did her usual ignoring bit but when she got to her last class of the school day, she was beyond ready to explode.

The professor promptly paired them off with partners and much to her chagrin she wound up working with her ex boyfriend from Slytherin. And naturally, the first thing that the idiot prig asked her about was the rumor circulating about her coming out of Snape's office well past the usual visiting hours. As soon as he asked her, she wanted to dangle him by his ankle from the roof of the classroom. However, considering that she wasn't technically even allowed to have her wand on her person while in classes, she had to resort to other tactics.

The git winced when out of nowhere she grabbed him by the balls and said through gritted teeth, "It's not any more true than that fucking laughable rumor you tried to start last year.. About feeling me up at the Yule Ball? If it were true, you son of a..." she said as he yelped in pain and she was forced to drop him on his ass when their professor's head snapped up and she felt the intent gaze of her own father on her, eyeing the situation.

She wasn't going to put the man into a position in which he had to tell everyone. Maybe he didn't want anyone knowing she was his child. If people knew then they'd complain when she got to go into his office after hours or it 'seemed' to them that he was being 'favoritist' in how he treated her. And she didn't want any suspicions raised elsewhere, either.

Voldemort, after all, was a very real danger now. And her father was a double agent, he'd had to confide this to her when he also told her that he was her father.. And she was worried that at any moment his status could be discovered and she'd lose him after waiting so long to find him. It was a risk the practical yet tempermental Ravenclaw simply was not willing to take.

So she'd decided that as long as these idiotic rumors ran their course, she'd just let them keep talking. It wasn't like what anyone said mattered to her particularly to begin with. And her father wasn't in a position where he could actually put the rumors to rest either, so she really had no other choice in the matter. What she wasn't counting on, was what she overheard in the hallway, as she walked past the Weasley's joke stand. Her ears perked at the mention of her name and again, her father's office, after hours.

But then Fred Weasley did something shocking and quite uncharacteristic (at least when you considered what she knew of the guy currently, and all she knew was that he liked being a git at times, he rarely did nice things.. Especially for girls he picked on almost daily.) when he looked dead at Mirabelle, gave a cheeky wink and said mysteriously, "Oh, she might have been in Snape's office after hours, mate.. But I heard it wasn't Snape she was with."

The boy buying exploding snap dropped his jaw and asked "Who then? Because since our first year, she's had this thing about Professor Snape, it's a little more than creepy." as he took his exploding snap and Fred shrugged then said casually, "You'll hear about it when I do, mate." while smirking at Mirabelle who st ood nearby in the hallway, giving him a stern glare, her hand in her hair, lip being bitten in a way that always managed to distract the cocky prankster male.

When the boy left she rushed over and asked through gritted teeth, "Just why in the hell would you do such a stupid thing, Fred?"

"I have my reasons, Mirabelle.. Or shall I call you Mira?" Fred said with a smirk as he shrugged and then added quietly, " Just relax.. For once I'm actually doing something nice.. Sort of.. I have my own reasons for doing it, which I'll tell you later.. But trust me, this isn't just for you." while studying her intently. Her eyes burned with an almost deathly angry warm brown fire and her cheeks were almost a pale rose right now, with the way she was standing he could tell that she was indeed very angry with him, thinking of course, he was only messing with her or as she did about everyone else for the most part, he was 'out to get her' that this whole rumor he was trying to fuel, hoping that the boy would jump to conclusions and insinuate that Fred and Mira were in Snape's office after hours instead of her visiting with a father she'd never been able to know until now...

When that was actually the farthest she could get from the truth of why he was doing it. He was doing it because the rumors were stupid and pointless and mean, they made her sad, he could sort of look at her and tell... And he did have quite a crush on her, so maybe...

"You'll tell me nothing later. Just put an end to this."

"Can't do that, doll. Trust me, I would if I could but I really can't. We'll talk later, woman."

"You infuriating son of a..." Mirabelle started as she started to realize why he might be doing it. Was he actually doing something nice? And for once this wasn't a sick joke of his?

She studied him warily and said quietly, "I have things to do." before turning and storming away, down the hall and out into the courtyard. Where her friend Izzy found her and asked "Is it true? About you and Weasley?"

Mirabelle smiled a little and shrugged then said quietly, "Maybe so.. Or maybe not." before wandering over to their usual spot beneath the trees and flopping back onto the grass as she added, "All I do know, Izzy, is he's up to something.. And he better hope to Merlin this isn't some joke he's got planned for me. I'm getting sick of the way he treats me. Which wouldn't suck so badly if I weren't so bloody in love with the git." Mirabelle groaned as Izzy laughed and said "Someone may have told me something.. About why he does those things to you.."

"Because he's a prick, duh."

"No, Miri, because believe it or not, you're not completely repulsive to boys.. And I heard it going round that Fred well... He likes you."

"Does not."


	10. Chapter 9

He caught up to her in the corridor quickly and tapped her shoulder. Mirabelle whirled around and raised a brow as her eyes met with the mischeviously glowing eyes of Fred Weasley. "You?" she asked, confused as to why the older Gryffindor would be trying to talk to her, especially given his previous penchant for pulling pranks on her.

He held out her necklace, the one with the guitar pick on it and said, "Believe you dropped this, doll."

"I have a name, Weasley, and it's not doll, or ickle short one or Mira. It's Mirabelle." Mirabelle said calmly as she took the necklace, fastened it around her neck and then added in a less sharp tone, "Thanks. I wondered where it might have gone when I realized it'd fallen off earlier. I was about to backtrack to my fa, err, Snape's classroom and make sure I hadn't left it there."

Fred smirked a little and asked jokingly, "Why do you always get so bloody bent out of shape when I call you Mira? Izzy calls you Mira." as he leaned against a wall, blocking her from making any form of hasty retreat anytime soon. He got a dirty look for that, but he didn't really care. He'd told her earlier, they were going to talk. And they were going to talk.

"Why do you go round telling people we're snogging in bloody Potions class?" Mirabelle fumed as she looked at him and then added, "Izzy is different.. Izzy is.. Forget it, you wouldn't understand."

"She's family." Fred stated, shocking her as he added, "Or the closest you've got, except the obvious. And I'm doing that, Mira, because it's better than people finding out the bloody truth and a whole mess getting started. Doesn't it bother you that people assume you're snogging professors in their offices after dark? Or worse?" he asked, curious.

"Not really, no. It's no one's business what I'm doing in any case. I really don't much care what anyone else thinks, I know the truth. Kind of why I never bother getting angry when stupid rumors get started. Kind of why I don't bother correcting the idiots now that think we're snogging in Snape's office. Let them think what they will. The day I let anyone get to me, Fred, is the day I might as well go throw myself off the highest tower in the castle. What do you want, other than bothering me?" Mirabelle asked impatiently as she stared up at him, tapped her foot lightly against the stone flooring of the castle corridor, rubbed her arms. It was always chillier in this part of the castle and this morning she'd forgotten to throw her usual long sleeve beneath her t shirt and blazer.

"I can go."

"You want something. Spit it out." Mirabelle said calmly as she eyed him, a hint of a smirk appearing as she looked at him. He smirked back and shrugged and then grumbled a few moments before saying "Thought about taking a walk on the lawns.."

"And?"

"Thought you might join me."

"It's dark. Curfew ends soon." Mirabelle said as he looked at her and smirking asked, "So you can jump in the lake like a barmy woman and swim at night.. But you won't go for an ickle walk around the grounds? Afraid your father might get angry?"

"Not really, no.. And I only swam that time, Weasley, because I drank a shitload of vodka."

"What's vodka?"

"A muggle alcoholic drink." Mirabelle replied as she looked at him. He hadn't budged so she sighed and said quietly, "Fine.. I suppose one little walk won't hurt me. But if you're pulling a prank on me, Weasley, I'll punch you in the dick."

He raised a brow and she said quietly, "You won't like it, when and if it happens. Just trust me." as he gave her a momentary dirty look and then mused, "Sour as a pickle, you are."

"I've been told that, yes." Mirabelle said with a shrug as the two made their way out onto the lawns. The lawns were mostly empty save for a few brave souls still lingering out. But Fred wanted to walk somewhere more privately so he grabbed her hand and lead her away from the small crowd of students gathered still and over towards another quieter area.

"It bothers me that it doesn't bother you.. About the rumors. I mean you bother me, really.. You're sour, stiff, you don't like anyone.." Fred mumbled as he paced in front of her like a madman.

"Not true. I like Izzy and my.. Professor Snape." Mirabelle hissed as she added, "Maybe I just choose to be wary of you.. You do spend all your time nearly, making my life hell with your pranks."

"Because, Mirabelle, I have to get your attention some way, don't I?" Fred stated calmly, an annoyed edge to his voice.. This was not going like he thought it would. She'd made a good pass at avoiding him for nearly 3 weeks now and it had driven him insane. The entire student body thought they were dating and she went out of her way to avoid him. He'd hoped she'd confront him and blow up at which point he'd planned to pin her in somewhere and just let it all out finally before it drove him insane.

Sadly, she'd done the opposite.

But he liked things difficult.

And he was tired of this little dance they were doing.

"Huh?" Mirabelle asked as he looked around quickly and satisfied that nobody was around, because that cow in pink Umbridge had recently posted a ban on any type of PDA between students, he pulled her against him and kissed her. His hands tangled in her hair, pulling it down from it's half up and half down state.

She tried shoving him back, pushing him away but when his tongue crept past her lips she wound up clutching his shirt instead and kissing back. But when the kiss ended, she slapped him and asked in a hissing voice, "What the hell was that for?"

"I wanted to kiss you you sour woman. So badly it was driving me insane." Fred said as he held his cheek and then said "You call that a slap?" as he grinned at her and added, "And you kissed back.. So I should be asking you why you kissed back?"

"Because I... You caught me off guard."

"Sure."

"You did, Fred, damn it." Mirabelle hissed as she stepped back and then shook her head, confused. "Was that what you wanted to do? Get me off by myself so you could snog me and hope someone saw and it backed up the rumor you started? Is this a game?" she asked, hurt look in her eyes as she bit her lower lip. He gaped at her a few moments and said quietly, "IF it were a game, Mira.. I'd have done it right out in front of everyone."

She bit her lower lip as she mulled over what he'd just done and what Izzy claimed she'd heard people saying.. Could he possibly like her?

The girl didn't know how to handle it so she did what she did when she was faced with something she couldn't deal with. She ran. Fred ran after her and George stepped out as he chuckled and shook his head then said quietly, "Let her think, Fred.. You know what she goes through at home.. You know how she's treated most of the time here.. Suppose it 's confusing to discover that someone you really fancy fancies you back?"

"Women, Forge.. So bloody complicated."

"You're not an easy person either, Gred." George remarked with a grin as he said "let's get to the commons room.. We'll figure out what your next move is there. All we need is that cow Umbridge catching us out. She's practically gunning for us since that incident with the Pustules."

"She is." Fred said as he chuckled and muttered, "I'll just keep trying."

"That's the spirit, Gred."


	11. Chapter 9 II

She stood a few feet away just watching him pace and grumble. He'd been doing it almost 5 minutes by this point, she wasn't really sure why in all honesty, she just figured it probably had something to do with the fact that even after he'd put it all out there and kissed her like he had earlier in the week, she was still avoiding him for the most part. "Just spit it out, Weasley." she finally spoke aloud as he stopped pacing and muttered grumpily, "Just spit it out, she says." as he added seconds later, "Here you go then..." before walking over, stopping directly in front of her, standing so close their bodies brushed lightly and he could actually hear her heart speed up a little, the slightly erratic breathing his being so close to her caused.

"Well? It's late, Weasley and I'm cold. You got me out here, now tell me why exactly I am out here." Mirabelle asked in an impatient tone as she thought to herself, _'Because it couldn't possibly be good. Maybe he's realized that I'm not worth the effort.' _and bit her lower lip intently as she stared up into his eyes which had this sort of smoldering look in them. He stared right back, almost in defiance, unwilling to break the gaze.

Finally, he spoke, "I don't get you.. I kiss you, you kiss back and still you're avoiding me. I stop the pranks and the making your life hell and still you act skittish around me. Sort of thought I made my intent clear with that kiss?" as he leaned in a little more, plucked a flower from the bush behind her and held it out to her. George had given him the 'pep talk' he was going to do this, get it all out now. Because with the way things were so tense lately, he just wasn't sure if they'd have a tomorrow in which to tell her.

There was a sense of underlying urgency in his words, maybe that's why Mirabelle looked at him in shock and bit her lower lip, then began to pace herself, holding the flower in her hands as she mumbled under her breath. She didn't know what to do with what he said just then, but a talk she had with her father earlier kept coming back to her.. He'd basically told her that while he wasn't overly fond of Fred, if she felt the things she did, maybe she should take a risk and let him closer. He told her that all he wanted for her was the knowledge she'd be safe and happy. Because he wasn't sure how this situation he found himself in would play out in the ultimate end scheme of things.

"I... I don't know what to say, alright? I'm not really used to people liking me, Weasley, or have you just totally missed that about me?" Mirabelle admitted finally as she looked up at him a few moments, managed a small tight smile. Which was more than most got from her at any given time. He smiled a little and then asked, "Why's it so hard to believe someone might actually like you, huh?" while he raked a hand through his shaggy ginger hair.

She raised to tiptoe and fixed his crooked tie, rolled her eyes as she stated casually, "It was annoying me. OCD." which made him raise a brow and she explained, "It's a muggle thing, Weasley." before going silent for about five minutes and just sort of staring at him before finally saying, "What is your intent, honestly?"

"I want you."

"Oh.. So how do we... I've never...What do you mean, exactly, because I want you just implies that you want me.. Doesn't say for how long, nor does it say how much and in what way. Because to be honest," she looked at him, took a deep breath and admitted "I've wanted you for about a year or so now.. Just never really said anything about it."

"Oh.."

He fell silent as he mentally did a few loud victory shouts and just sort of watched her, curious as to what made her feel as if she couldn't just approach him and tell him this, that she liked him. "Why didn't you just tell me?" he asked finally as she shrugged, paced a little, shuffling her combat boots in the grass they stood in.

"Never thought it'd go well for me. I'm awkward at best." Mirabelle mused silently as she stared up at the moon, then dared to hold his gaze a few moments. The sky was darkening even more now, if she had to guess, they'd have to hurry this particular discussion if either of them had a prayer to Merlin of getting back into the castle without being caught by Filch. Mirabelle got easily annoyed with the man, really, she hated being told when and where she could come and go. She'd never been much for rules and regulations, though she did her level best to abide by all of them.

No sense in calling unneeded attention to herself she figured.

"Oh... Well, obviously, woman, I feel the same way. And I say that I want you.. I don't mean it like you think I do.. I mean I want you to be my girlfriend.. I don't want to have to keep chasing you, really."

"It's not fun?" Mirabelle asked, laughing a little, the genuine laugh surprising her a little as she looked up at him. He shook his head and said "Not really, no. Just get bloody tired of having to fight other boys. Apparently, Mirabelle, you're not nearly as disliked as you want to be. I had to tell you this now.. Because if I didn't just risk it and say something, do something about the way you make me feel then at least one other boy was going to step up. And I really hate that McClaggen git."

"McClaggen, huh? I'd have most likely punched him in the dick. Hate him." Mirabelle muttered quietly as she dared to drift a little closer to Fred, shivered a little as a cold breeze swept past them. "If I say I'll be your girlfriend, Weasley.."

"You're considering, then?" he asked hopefully as he looked at her. Maybe George was right, maybe the direct approach would've worked a lot sooner than his long way around one had so far.

"I will. But you have to understand.. I'm not.. I've got no actual clue how to be with someone.. And I'm hard to love and get along with.. I make no excuses. I am what I am." Mirabelle muttered as he shrugged and said "I don't mind so much."

She nodded and shivered again and took a deep breath, stepped closer to him, huddling against him as she looked up and asked with a pleading look in her eyes, "Can we go inside now, for the love of Merlin? I'm almost frozen out here." and he nodded and asked, "So.. What were you talking to your father about earlier? Sounded serious?"

"Seriously? So you listen at doors too, Weasley?"

"I do when it concerns you.. I thought you might be upset because of what those two girls did earlier, I was worried so I waited outside of his office to make sure you were alright.."

"I was, yes.. He was talking me down because I was on the verge of going to find Greengrass and Parkinson, dangling them by their tongues over the staircase landing." Mirabelle admitted sheepishly as Fred chuckled and slid his arm around her, leading them both into the castle. They happened to walk past Snape's classroom and Snape nodded to the clock and then shook his head at the two of them. As they disappeared from sight he managed a small tight smile. At least if something DID happen to him and Mirabelle and Fred did manage to make things work beyond their school years... He wouldn't have to worry about her.. Because he'd overheard Fred and his twin discussing the way Fred had felt about Mirabelle for some time now, apparently. And while he wasn't fond of the boy, he didn't entirely hate him, either.

Maybe she'd make more friends than just Izzy, that was another concern of his as her father.. She cut herself off from almost everyone. He knew from experience how unhealthy that could be, the loneliness involved in it. Maybe if he'd tried to make more friends.. he waved off the thought as he retired to his own personal quarters. He'd waited up to make sure she made it back into the castle without incident, now that he knew she had and she was tucked away in her dorm room, he could sleep soundly.


End file.
